The sound of that booming voice had all three swiveling towards the source.  Atop a cliff overlooking the shore stood Megatron.

Rattrap held his face.  “Great.  How’d I wind up with an invitation to the Predacon Beach Party?”

“Oh, Hysteria…  I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me,” Megatron called.  “Nice work getting these two out here to this secluded beach… juuust out of comm range.  Alone and outnumbered.”

It was then the other Predacons revealed themselves.  Hysteria and the two Maximals were surrounded.

“This plan worked even more flawlessly that I expected!”

“Oh, slag…”

“What is the meaning of this?” Dinobot asked with a growl.  It was not directed at Hysteria in particular, but she could only guess what he was thinking.

“Dinobot,” she said, clinging to his arm as he glared at Megatron.  “Dinobot, listen to me!  I had no knowledge of this!  I swear!”

“No, no, Dinobot.  Worry not.  Your beloved did not deceive you, just as I knew she would not.  Contrary to popular belief, I am no fool, Hysteria,” he proclaimed.  “There is a method to my madness, yes.  Your memory circuits were not left intact just so that I could gloat, you know.  No, this plan would not have worked if you did not remember— oh, what was it?  Tall, dark, and handsome, I believe?”

The rest of the Predacons got a kick out of this, only causing Dinobot to grow increasingly irate.

“After that touching first impression, I knew nothing would be able to keep the two of you away from one another.”

She looked to him, gritting her teeth that he had turned the tables on her.  She clutched her blaster, but dared not raise it…  Not yet.

“Don’t act so surprised.  Did you honestly believe I would trust you so blindly?  No, in fact, my whole plan was built around the promise that you would deceive me, my dear.  You’re a Predacon, after all.  If you were unruly prior to the conversion, you wouldn’t suddenly become the model soldier.  And unlike your foolish Dinobot, I am not so easily tempted by the wiles of a femme.”

Megatron looked past her, his wicked grin growing. 

“Speaking of you, Dinobot…  My, I must say, I’m surprised at you!  The Maximals must have really turned you soft.  Or was it love that hath made thee a tame beast?  I’ll admit, you were the true gamble in my scheme, for the Dinobot I knew would not have dropped his guard for a pretty face and some saucy sweet talk.”  As he continued, he placed a servo over his spark.  “Oh, how the two of you played your parts so well.  A pair of star-crossed lovers who will meet their tragic end together…  The fact that you managed to lure in one more Maximal is just icing on the cake.  With these two down, the Beast Wars will be over in no time.  But first…” 

Megatron pointed his arm cannon at Hysteria.

“It’s a shame I have to do this to one of my more competent troops, but I have to make an example, of course.  I can’t have everyone thinking I play fav—”

Hysteria fired her blaster before Megatron could finish his sentence.  The shot hit Megatron’s cannon, causing it to fire at the sand to the side of where she and the others stood.  In his anger that he was hit, he shouted to his troops.

“Scrap her first!” he commanded.  “She’s served her purpose.”

No sooner than these words left his mouth were the three subjected to a barrage of fire as the five Predacons set their sights on Hysteria.  Dinobot acted on instinct, pushing Hysteria behind him as he donned his sword and rotary blade.  On the other side, Rattrap surprisingly made an effort to close the distance and shield her as well.  The beach was a flurry of lasers and debris as the three of them attempted to hold their own against the Predacons.

“You tell anyone you were following him?” Hysteria asked while not tearing her focus away from firing shots at Terrorsaur.  “Anyone know your whereabouts?”

“Negative,” replied Rattrap.

“Oh well,” she said, laughing in the face of adversity.  “Guess it’s just our chance to show off, huh?”

The battle raged on with them doing just that.  They may have been outnumbered, but they were not outmatched.  Dinobot fought off any projectiles that got close, occasionally firing beams from his eyes when he could while Rattrap shot at any and everyone.  Hysteria fired her blaster as well, though her mobility was limited by being sandwiched between the two Maximals.  In the heat of combat, Hysteria was so focused, she missed the sting of the laser that struck her side.  Her movements became slower and less precise, but she thought nothing of it.  She only reached down when her blaster became too heavy to hold and she dropped it.  By the point her servo clutched the wound on her side, she had lost so much fuel that she couldn’t even properly react.

“Dinobot…”

He grunted in acknowledgement, not peeling his optics away from the fight.

“D…Dinobot…”

The weakened echo of his name grabbed his attention.  He glanced back, doing a double take upon seeing a puddle of oil staining the sand beneath them. 

“Hysteria?”

She lifted her servo, allowing him to see both the wound in her side and how it was covered.  For the first time since activation, Dinobot felt what he only assumed was fear— fear of losing her.  While she was his weakness, she was also his strength, and seeing her like this quickly converted that fear to rage.  His optics blazed with fury.  Whoever did this would pay.

“Rattrap!” he snarled.  “Get her to safety!”

“Hm?”

It was then that Rattrap turned around.  His optics widened at the sight.

“Oh, for the love of Primus— she’s bleedin’ out!”

“No slag…”

A weak laugh rose from Hysteria after she spoke this, followed by a wince as she collapsed against Dinobot. 

“Get Hysteria out of here,” he commanded, thrusting her into the arms of Rattrap.  “I shall handle the rest.”

“You s—?”

“Now!”

Without further protest, Rattrap scooped Hysteria up and began to run for cover.  He narrowly dodged the fire that followed him.

“Never mind the femme,” Megatron called out as he watched the other Maximal toting her near-lifeless body away from the carnage.  He pointed his laser cannon at Dinobot.  “End him instead while he’s weak and she will soon follow!”

It was fortunate that Dinobot did not know which Predacon fired the shot that hit her, because if he did, that mech would have been torn limb from limb and he would have personally crushed his spark.  Instead, he operated under the assumption that Megatron was the one guilty of wounding her and showed no mercy.  He grabbed her discarded weapon, using the firepower to blast Waspinator and Terrorsaur out of the sky as he charged towards Megatron.

Rattrap got Hysteria to a small group of trees just beyond the shore, far enough to be out of the way but close enough to he could keep an eye on the action, just in case Dinobot needed backup.  As he placed her on the ground, she made a noise that he could only assume was soft laughing.

“What’s up, Hot Spot?” he asked.

“Just always thought… Dinobot… would be the one… to whisk me off my struts…”

“Yeah, well…  Sorry to disappoint,” he said.  “Uh, just… Hang on, all right?  Hang on, so he can have the chance to do it, okay?”

She feebly nodded her helm.

“How you feelin’?” he asked.

She grew quiet, like she was thinking about her answer.  After a huff of a laugh, she managed to say, “‘M not…”

Rattrap didn’t like the sound of that.  He also didn’t like how weak and staticky her voice was becoming.  Though it was a long shot, he activated his commlink.

“Rattrap to base,” he tried, hoping he could get in touch with someone.  He waited a moment for an answer, then tried again.  “Rattrap to Command Center…  Come in, Big Banana.  Answer me already, will ya?”

Another moment passed and not a word in response.  He sighed, running a hand over his face when he realized he was still too far out of range.  He looked over to Hysteria, noting how her optics were fading and flickering out.

“Hey, hey… Try to keep those optics online for me, sweetspark.  Want me to prop you up so you can watch your dinoboo kick Pred skid plates?”

This comment got a smile from her and nothing more.  She was fading fast, and he racked his brain trying to keep her online.  He reached for her servo, holding it.

“Talk to me, Spots,” he said.  “Just… say whatever comes to mind.”

“Tell Dinobot… I l…”

“No, no, no,” Rattrap shushed her with wide optics.  “Shh… Shh… Not that.  Stay online so you can tell ‘im yourself.  Okay?  Trust me, he won’t wanna hear that from me…  Not after this…”

The whirring of the fans that tried to regulate her sounded erratic and concerning.  Her optics dimmed, and remained that way.

“C’mon, Chopperface,” he mumbled, looking back out towards the action.

Dinobot was engaged in a vicious battle with Megatron, striking and parrying in quick succession.  Though Rattrap had carried Hysteria out of his line of vision, the sight of her injuries remained burned into his optics, spurring his rage.  He fought with all his might; the sound of metal striking metal echoed as Megatron blocked hits from Dinobot’s sword.  The Predacon chuckled at Dinobot’s efforts.

“You know as well as anyone that violent delights have their violent ends, Dinobot!” Megatron said as he clashed with the other the other mech.  “And in their triumph… die!”

Megatron emphasized his words with a strike that sent Dinobot staggering back, but despite his confidence, he was losing ground.  His adversary had used his words as fuel and struck back with a powerful swing of his sword.  The force of his blade knocked Megatron back.  He lost his footing and collapsed onto the ground.  Dinobot approached, standing over his fallen former leader.  He remembered all Hysteria had said as he raised his blade over Megatron’s chest, fully prepared to bring it down upon his spark chamber.  If her last request was to see Megatron offline permanently, if that was all he could do for her, he wanted to see it done.

“You would do this, Dinobot?” said Megatron.  It may have been meant as a taunt, but there was hesitation in his voice.  “Not very Maximal of you, is it?”

Megatron’s words did not make Dinobot falter like he hoped they would.  His sword came down without a second thought, but Megatron twisted, knocking Dinobot over as he scrambled backwards.

“Predacons, retreat!”

Dinobot growled as Megatron and the others transformed and rushed away.

“Coward!” he called out, firing lasers from his optics once more.

As much as Dinobot wanted to prevent them from leaving before he had finished with them, he had more pressing matters.  He had sustained injuries of his own.  Much of his energy had been used.  In an effort to preserve enough to get back to base, he transformed so he could quickly join Rattrap and Hysteria.  It was not difficult to locate them.  He followed the footsteps and drops of oil in the sand until he saw the two beneath a tree.  Rattrap stepped out of the way when Dinobot approached.  He didn’t say a word; no quips or jabs as Dinobot took in the sight of Hysteria.  He maximized so he could better inspect her.  Lowering himself to his knee by her side, he grabbed her servo as he scanned her frame.  Her optics had gone offline at this point.  Her fans had gone quiet.  There was another puddle of oil at the base of the tree.  Dinobot bowed his head, holding her servo close to his chest.  Rattrap’s optics widened as he watched the scene unfurl.

“Dinobot,” he whispered.  “I….  I’m sorry…”

Dinobot took a sharp intake and shook his helm as he raised it.

“Stasis lock,” he solemnly noted.

Relief flashed across Rattrap’s face.

“You sure?” he asked.

He gave a firm nod without letting his gaze stray from Hysteria.

“I… cannot explain it,” he quietly said, placing his free servo over his chest.  “But my spark has yet to acknowledge the absence of hers.  It is weakened, yes, but I’m certain it’s not yet extinguished.  We must get her back to base before it’s too late.”

He stood to transform then lowered himself to her side again.  Rattrap hoisted her up and positioned her on his back.

“Alert the others.  We can afford no delays,” Dinobot instructed before walking away with her.

Rattrap transformed and trailed behind, reactivating his commlink and hoping that every microquad they travelled would get him closer to range.  Dinobot was so far in front of him, he believed they’d reach base before he got in touch with anyone.

“Report, Rattrap,” he eventually heard.

“Oh, thank Primus,” he said at the sound of Optimus Primal’s voice.  “Me an’ the lovesick lizard incoming.  Got a spotted stray with us that’s pretty beat up.  It, uh… might be more than the CR chamber can fix, so get ready.”

“What?  What happened?”

“Long story, big guy,” Rattrap said with a sigh.  “Tell ya when we get there.”